


Roots Before Branches

by salamisato



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Coming Out, Coming of Age, F/F, F/M, Found Family, Gen, M/M, Minor Aqua/Terra (Kingdom Hearts), Minor Kairi/Olette (Kingdom Hearts), Slice of Life, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Teenage Drama, human versions of all anthropomorphic characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-02-10 20:16:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18667618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salamisato/pseuds/salamisato
Summary: Sora, Roxas, and Ventus are brothers and have lived with their great uncle Merlin in inner-city Radiant Garden ever since their parents passed away. Now, they've been accepted to study at the prestigious Radiant Garden Academy, where they will meet new friends and challenges alike.In which Sora's a wannabe vlogger with a crush on the cute athlete; Ventus tries to find a lost loved one; Roxas is determined to make his dreams of becoming a rock star come true; Lea struggles to find his place in the world; and Xion just wishes she could be herself.Follow the eclectic students of Radiant Garden Academy as they traverse life, family, love, firsts, and everything else that comes with growing up.





	1. The First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ventus and his brothers get ready for their first day at their new school.

Ventus awoke to the clamour of his brothers’ arguing overlapping with the incessant blaring of his alarm clock. He tugged on his covers, pulling them over his head, hoping their warmth and softness could lull him back to sleep and somehow block out the noise. When his brothers didn’t stop arguing, he groaned, yet the sound still drowned in the din of his brother’s shouting. Ventus almost convinced his body to fall back asleep when he found himself meeting the hard floor with a thud.

“Ow,” he muttered. He kept his eyes squeezed shut as he pulled the covers down from the bed and wrapped himself in them once more.

“Sorry, Ven, we didn’t mean to!” said Sora’s voice above him.

“Nah, I meant to,” came Roxas’ voice, the usual edge in his voice still there even this early in the morning.

“You could’ve just asked nicely!” said Sora.

“What,” said Ventus, voice thick with sleep and eyes still shut, “is _happening_.”

“Oh!” said Sora. “Well, Roxas wanted to take his backpack which he left on _my_ side of the room --”

“That’s _not_ your side of the room, it’s _mine_ ,” Roxas said.

“So I told Roxas he had to ask nicely first if he wanted to take it --”

“It was just right there and you were standing in the way, then you took it and taunted me with it --”

“I didn’t taunt you. I said ‘what’s the magic word?’ and you said a bad word and so I said I’m older, and you have to treat your elders with respect but he _didn’t_ and so he resorted to violence as usual --”

“You’re older by _three_ minutes! And it wasn’t violence, for the love of god --”

“So he shoved me really hard and I fell on your bed and you tumbled out and that’s why you’re on the floor.”

“Guys,” Ventus said. “ _Please try_  to be nice. It’s too early for this.”

“What are you talking about?” said Roxas. “This happens every day at the same time. See? Six A.M. on the dot.”

At this, Ventus finally pushed the covers off of him, squinting at the sudden amount of light in his vision, and seeing his brothers hovering over him, two sets of bright blue eyes staring at him. He sighed and tried a smile as he pushed himself upright with a groan.

“I mean,” said Ventus slowly, his voice still terribly groggy, “that it’s our first day at a brand new school. Didn’t we all promise Grandpa Merlin and everyone else that we’d be on our best behaviour?”

Sora pouted, scratching his sleep-tangled brown hair. Roxas just gave him an unamused look, dirty blonde hair equally messy as Sora’s. Ventus waited for a minute to pass before they both exchanged looks and sighed.

“Fine,” they both said in unison.

Ventus chuckled and stretched out both his arms to ruffle their hair. “Good. We wouldn’t want to disappoint Leon, would we?”

At the mention of the man’s name, Sora grinned, flashing the colourful braces on his teeth. “Of course not!” said Sora.

Roxas shrugged. “I guess.” He grabbed the backpack in Sora’s lap and stood. “First dibs on the bathroom!”

“Huh?” Sora whipped his head around to the open door of their bedroom, finding Roxas already making it towards the door down the hall. “Hey, no fair!” He stood, tripping a little over Ventus’ sprawled covers on the floor, and ran after Roxas.

Ventus continued to sit on the floor, surrounded by strewn bedding and leaned back against his mattress, allowing himself to close his eyes just for a second --

“ _Sora, if you don’t stop banging on the door I’ll kill you!_ ”

He continued to listen in on their squabbling and couldn’t help the small fond smile that crept on his face.

However, at the sight of his room, the smile quickly fell. Music books, clothes, and unfolded bedding piled both mattresses of Sora’s and Roxas’ shared bunk bed. A pair of underwear draped over the lamp on the nightstand next to it. Bowls, plates, and glasses formed into stacks surrounded by an assortment of Sora’s recording equipment on the desk by the door.

Ventus sighed and stood up, collecting his covers off the floor and folding them, then doing the same for the other bed, all while collecting his brothers’ scattered things and putting them back where they belonged.

As he neatened up the room, he found a pair of drumsticks on the floor; one stick painted pastel pink and yellow, and the other black and silver. He shook his head at seeing them so carelessly handled and dropped onto the ground. Roxas would throw a fit if he found them there, Ventus thought, though Roxas would probably blame Sora for it.

Ventus had just put the drumsticks in their case in one of the dresser drawers when he saw himself in the dresser mirror. He frowned at his reflection, particularly at the dark circles under his eyes. Just as he averted his gaze away from his own reflection, he caught sight of a photograph taped to the mirror.

Without thinking, his hand reached out to touch it, almost like he could touch the memory itself. In the photograph sat four children squeezed together on a sofa. The blond-haired, blue-eyed boys wore matching checkered overalls and toothy grins -- save for one, who sat with his arms crossed and pouting as he refused to even look at the camera. Ventus skimmed his finger over the boy’s face and smiled sadly.

“Ah, Ventus, there you are.”

Their great uncle Merlin stood by the door of the bedroom, peering into the cramped space as he stroked his beard.

“G’morning, Grandpa Merlin.” Ventus smiled and turned away from the mirror.

“Your brothers are already causing some ruckus this early in the morning,” chuckled the old man.

“When aren’t they?” Ventus said, trying to feign annoyance but mostly sounding fond.

“No, they seem particularly on edge today. One might even say that they’re nervous.” Merlin stepped into the room, stopping by the desk to observe the Furby collection lined up on its shelf. “I wouldn’t put it past them after all. For as dauntless as they are, anyone their age would be a little anxious to be in a new place for the first time.”

“Dauntless?” Ventus laughed. “Sora’s still scared of cockroaches.”

Merlin hummed and pushed his round glasses up the bridge of his nose. “They’ve seen some harsh things at such a young age. All of you have.”

“Well,” Ventus said, scratching the back of his head, “I guess.”

“And how are you? Are you nervous?”

“For school? Nah. It’s not our first time moving to a new school, you know.”

“I know, I know.” Merlin moved past the Furbies and looked at Sora’s old video camera placed atop a stack of music books instead. “But this is a prestigious school. We all worked very hard to get you a place here.”

“I know,” Ventus said, shuffling on his feet. “Thank you. All of you. And not just for this. But for, you know, everything.”

Merlin looked up, meeting his eyes at last. “Oh, Ventus.” He gently placed his wrinkled hand on Ventus’ shoulder and gave a warm smile. “I’m so proud of you. You and your brothers.”

Ventus smiled, looking away from Merlin’s twinkling eyes. “Geez, Grandpa Merlin, we’re not leaving the country or anything. We’ll be back every weekend.”

“Perhaps, but forgive me for being so accustomed to you and your brothers filling my humble home with so much laughter and joy. I remember when the three of you barely reached my knees…” Merlin sniffled. ”You were all such small things, especially that Sora…”

“I was eleven, so I’m pretty sure I wasn’t _that_ short --”

“I wasn’t even sure if I could raise you at first. I was so worried. But I was lucky. I had help from all our friends.” He chuckled. “I suppose it really did take a village.

“Oh, do you remember?” Merlin went on. “When Cloud bought you your first bicycle? Now, look at you. You don’t need bicycles when you can drive a car. Or that time Leon brought you and the boys out for trick-or-treating, and you were all dressed up as those strange green men in masks?”

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” Ventus mumbled.

“And next year, you’ll be off to college...” Merlin took off his glasses, wiping the lenses with shaky hands.

“Grandpa Merlin…” Ventus reached out his hands and placed them around the old man’s bony wrists. “It’s alright. This’ll always be our home. We’re not leaving you alright? We’ll just be staying at the dorms for five days a week, then we’ll be here all weekend.”

Merlin smiled and gripped Ventus’ hand. “You boys make us all proud over there, okay?”

“We will.”

#

When Ventus went finally got his turn at the bathroom, got dressed and readied his things, he took the stairs leading down to the cafe kitchen.

Merlin had refurbished the ground floor of their house into a cafe called The Pendragon Place. It was a cosy little establishment serving the best food on the block, attracting all sorts of customers. Their cook was a Frenchman that no one understood, but his cooking was divine. It was a mystery how the man wasn’t cooking in a five-star restaurant and instead got himself holed up in the inner-city. But as he made his way down the stairs, sniffing the smell of grilled meat and the yeasty smell of freshly baked bread wafting through the air, he was grateful that no one had snatched their cook up yet.

The cook in question, a scrawny young man named Remy, stood at the kitchen stove, serving up shining strips of bacon onto several plates and placing them on the sill of the pass-through window.

“Bonjour, Ventus,” greeted Remy. He gestured to a platter of food put aside on the counter. “Le petit déjeuner est prêt. Bon appétit!”

“Morning,” Ventus smiled. “This for me? Mm, it smells delicious. Thanks, man.”

“Pas de problème.”

Ventus scooped up the food from the platter into a clean plate, taking it with him into the cafe dining area. He just pushed the door open with his shoulder, ready to shout 'good morning' to whoever was working the morning shift when a loud clang echoed throughout the room.

“ _Sora!_ ” cried a woman’s voice.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, Aqua!”

Aqua clutched onto an empty tray as Sora rushed to grab napkins from the counter and throw them onto the wet floor.

“Sora, no,” sighed Aqua, setting the tray aside. “Just -- I’ll get a cloth.”

Aqua passed Ventus by the door, giving a quick and tired smile as she went into the kitchen. Ventus ran up to the scene to see several empty glasses knocked over beside him, their contents emptied onto one of their regulars, who sat in an adjacent chair.

“Gah, kid, that’s my favourite shirt!” exclaimed the man, a middle-aged mechanic named Cid, pawing at the large brown stain splattered across his burly chest.

“Cid, you have like fifty of the exact same shirt.”

Cid looked up in surprise at the voice, only to frown and go back to wiping at his soiled shirt. “Ugh, shut your piehole, Leon.”

Ventus turned around to find Detective Leonhart, another cafe regular, looking down at the scene. Well, he was Detective Leonhart: respectable officer of the law to most, but to Ventus and his brothers, he was just Leon: grumpy uncle figure. They’d known Leon since they had moved in with Merlin when Leon had still been in the academy, though he was one of Merlin’s regulars even since then, and had even helped in raising Ventus and his brothers.

“Hey, Ven.” Leon nodded at him. “So, starting at your new school today, huh?”

“Heh, yeah.”

“Nervous?”

“Nope.”

“Glad to hear it.” Leon smiled -- a rare occurrence -- and ruffled Ventus’ hair. “What happened here, anyway?”

“Sora did,” said Ventus with a shrug.

“So just another day at The Pendragon Place.”

Cid grunted. “You kids are lucky that this place still gets customers with all the ruckus y’all cause.”

“It’s because of Remy’s cooking,” said Ventus.

“And besides," said Leon. "We’re all pretty much family anyway."

Ventus blinked a few times, then looked up at Leon and beamed.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Leon said, putting his hand on Ventus’ head.

Aqua rushed back into the cafe with a rag in hand, only to stop in her tracks with her mouth agape as she found Sora had formed a hill of napkins on the floor to (unsuccessfully) wipe the mess with.

As Aqua scolded Sora, Ventus turned back to Leon. “You see Roxas anywhere?” he asked.

“Yup,” Leon said, hooking his thumb behind his shoulder. “Talking to Cloud about his bike. Got to give it to him. He doesn’t quit.”

“He hasn’t stopped going on about motorbikes ever since he laid eyes on Cloud’s,” said Ventus. ”It’s been years. I doubt he’s stopping any time soon, especially since he’s old enough for a learner’s permit now.”

“Well,” said Leon, “for now he’ll have to make do with getting around on that skateboard of his.”

“Sora, _please_ ,” Aqua cried behind them. “You’re making it worse -- _stop_.”

“I got it under control!”

After more bickering, they finally cleaned up the mess and had breakfast. Afterwards, Ventus forced Roxas and Sora to say goodbye to Merlin, who had sat reading a book behind the counter (sniffling with his face buried in the aforementioned book) as Aqua manned the cash register.

“Aqua?” Ventus said.

“Hey, Ven,” said Aqua, swaying a little where she stood.

“I thought you were on waitress duty today,” Ventus said.

“I am,” said Aqua. “We’re just running short on staff today since Terra’s sick.” She gave a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Ventus hadn’t noticed before with Aqua running about the cafe serving customers (because being so close to the university brought in a bunch of early birds), but now he could see the prominent dark circles under her eyes.

“Are… are you okay?” Ventus asked.

“Yeah, don’t worry about me, Ven,” Aqua said with genuine cheeriness despite her clear exhaustion. “I wanted to see you off anyway.” This time, when she smiled, he noted a twinkle in her sapphire eyes. “I’ll miss you.”

“Oh, no. Not you too, Aqua!” Ventus griped, though grinning all the same.

“It’s true,” said Aqua. “I mean, we’ll see each other less. Even lesser than we do now.”

“I’ll be back every weekend,” said Ventus. It felt like the millionth time he said it today. “Don’t worry about it, alright?”

“College is starting again soon for me too, Ven,” said Aqua. “I don’t know how often I can take a shift when it does.”

“Oh,” said Ventus. “I forgot about that…”

“Of course you did, silly,” said Aqua with a soft chuckle. She paused, biting her lip, then continued, “We won’t get to spend as much time together soon, and I won’t be there all the time to help you with your homework, so you better pay attention in class, okay?”

“Come on, Aqua, stop treating me like a kid,” said Ventus, crossing his arms.

“You _are_ a kid,” said Roxas behind him.

“Wh -- You’re an even kidder kid!” He paused. _Kidder kid? What?_ “You know what I mean. I turn eighteen this year!”

“Maybe you’re older in age, but you don’t act like it, I can assure you,” said Roxas.

“ _Sure,_  Mister Squeaky-Puberty-Voice,” said Sora.

“Oh, fuck you, Sora,” said Roxas.

“Whoa, whoa, boys!” Aqua said. “Language, please! This is a family establishment.”

“Sorry,” said Ventus. “I think Roxas amped his edginess for the first day of school. He doesn’t mean it.”

“Excuse me _?_ ” said Roxas.

“Anyway,” said Ventus, “I’ll be fine, Aqua. I wish Terra got to come in today though. I wanted to see him before we left.”

“Trust me, he wishes he was here too,” said Aqua. “But his sneezing is so bad that he’d infect all the customers. Oh, you can video-call tonight once you’ve moved into your dorm. I’ll be sure to get him in the call. You can show us how your room looks.”

“Sounds great,” said Ventus with a smile.

“Oh!” said Aqua. “One more thing.” She reached behind the counter and pulled out a green star-shaped keychain. “A good luck charm for your first day.”

“Thanks, Aqua,” said Ventus, taking the charm and looking through it to see Aqua’s refracted image laugh through the stained glass. “I love it.”

“I’m glad.” Aqua beamed. “Have fun at school today, boys. Be good. Eat the lunch we packed for you. Pay attention in class. Do your homework, and --”

“Okay, okay, thank you, _mom,_ ” said Ventus. “We’ll be on our best behaviour.”

“Good, I don’t want to hear any calls from the principal, alright?”

“Right, can we go now?” asked Roxas.

“ _Roxas_.”

#

They took the subway to school despite Roxas’ insistence that Cloud should drop them off on his motorbike. How Roxas expected all of them to fit onto a bike meant for one, Ventus wasn’t sure, and he wasn’t planning to ask.

“So, we’re on the way to Radiant Garden Academy,” Sora spoke to an invisible audience as he panned his video camera around the subway car and zoomed in on Ventus’ and Roxas’ faces. “How are you guys feeling today?”

“I’m feeling pretty good,” said Ventus.

“Are you posting this?” asked Roxas, staring straight into the camera.

“Uh, I don’t know,” said Sora. “I haven’t really set up the video channel yet.”

“What?” said Ventus. “ _Still?_  I thought you made it ages ago.”

“Yeah," said Roxas. "What were all the videos you make every day for then?”

“You know,” said Sora. “Test runs.”

“Right,” said Roxas with a roll of his eyes.

“Be nice, Roxas,” said Ventus. “He doesn’t make fun of you for your hobby.”

“I’m gonna be a rockstar, not a _vlogger_.”

“What’s wrong with being a vlogger?” said Sora with a frown. “It’s cool.”

Roxas shrugged.

The rest of the subway ride went by without little conversation. Mostly, it was Sora vlogging and chattering about his excitement as Roxas grumbled. After a while of listening to them bicker, Ventus let himself wonder what this new school would be like. Moving schools for the last year wasn’t ideal, but the school’s prestige made that a non-issue. Just having Radiant Garden Academy listed as his school would do wonders for his college applications. He just wondered what the people would be like. He’d never even stepped foot into the east neighbourhood until they first visited the Academy to settle their transfer.

They made it to their stop a little before eight. They remembered the way to the school from their earlier visits, though those had been over the break. Now, seeing the school so packed with students bustling about the campus grounds, Ventus couldn’t help but feel a little nervous.

“Whoa, that’s a lot of people!” Sora laughed. “This is going to be so much fun.”

“Yeah,” said Roxas flatly. "Fun."

“It’ll be great,” said Ventus, leading the other two up the walkway towards the entrance.

After registering at the office and settling the (hopefully) last of their documents, they went to over their schedules together.

“Aw, man, we don’t share the same breaks!” said Sora. “I hope I have someone to sit with for lunch…”

“I’m sure you’ll make a bunch of new friends,” said Ventus. “You were popular at our last school.”

“Yeah, but this is --”

“Radiant Garden Academy: giving rise to the most outstanding students in the state, where students of all talents can excel; home to a top-tier music programme and an Olympic-champion tennis coach.”

Ventus and Sora whirled around to stare at Roxas.

Roxas raised the pamphlet he was reading from its stand on the office counter to show them. “That’s what it says here.”

“Hey, Ven,” said Sora, “you should join the tennis club. You were pretty good at it that one time Terra brought us to that fancy country club.”

“That was one time,” said Ventus.

“Yeah,” said Roxas. “Plus you can’t really call him good if he was going up against Goofy.”

“Hey, Goofy’s great!” said Sora. “He’s the reigning champ of all the contests we hold at the cafe. Like the eating contest, the photo contest, the costume contest --”

“Sure, but he still sucks at tennis.” Roxas shrugged.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Roxas,” said Ventus with a shake of his head. “Well, whether or not I join tennis, Roxas, _you_ have to join the music club. Or was it the music programme? Whatever it was.”

“Ugh, no,” said Roxas.

“What?” Ventus and Sora said in unison.

“It’s all classical music,” said Roxas, showing them the pamphlet. “I’ll pass.”

Sora shook his head. “You don’t know if you don’t try, you know.”

“What about you, Sora?” asked Ventus. “Anything you’re interested in?”

“I just hope I get along with my classmates.”

“Have you ever _not_ gotten along with someone?” said Roxas.

Ventus laughed. “I gotta agree with Roxas there. Don’t worry about it, Sora. I’m sure you’ll be best friends with everyone in no time.”

#

Ventus was wrong.

Halfway through the day and no one even bothered to talk to him. Sora tried his best to talk to his desk neighbours but no one was eager to give him more than single-word answers that effectively ended the conversation.

He ate lunch quietly in his seat in the classroom. As delicious as Remy’s cooking was, he couldn’t bring himself to finish it. The nerves of the first day had his stomach in knots, and it didn’t help that half his classmates still lingered in the classroom to chat among themselves. He could’ve sworn that they were staring at him, but he was too nervous to look up to confirm it.

Thankfully, none of the classes required sitting in groups, so he got to pass off being alone as paying attention to the lesson. He wasn’t though. The lesson briefs were already enough to overwhelm him. There was just so much. Did they even cover any of the things the teachers mentioned in his last school? He couldn’t remember.

He spaced out for most of the lessons, only taking note of the important bits, but his mind mostly wandered. Why didn’t anyone want to be friends with him? Did he smell bad? Were his clothes dirty? Was it his breath? What was it?

The questions went in circles through his head and got nowhere. Eventually, classes came to an end and Sora found himself bitterly disappointed. What a day. Nothing happened, like, at all. Well, there was the mess he made this morning, but that hardly counted considering he’d made much bigger messes at the cafe. And even still, that wasn’t a _good_ thing. He didn’t even make one friend, plus the syllabus here seemed so much harder than before. He’d been so excited, and for what?

Sora heaved a sigh, making his way to the dorms, dragging his feet. They’d already left their things there in the morning before class, though they’d yet to unpack. The thought of going home after a tiring, _boring_ day only to unpack and tidy up his room was just --

“Hey, watch out!”

Too late. His face slammed into what he presumed was a lamp post.

“ _Ow,_ ” he groaned, rubbing his forehead, eyes squeezed shut. “Can this day get any worse?”

“Are you okay?”

Sora popped an eye open and saw a boy looking at him -- or, well, down at him. He was tall, maybe a head taller than Sora; had silver hair and blue-green eyes. And wow, he was muscular, really well built for someone still in school. Sora’s gaze then caught on the boy’s shirt, that read ‘Radiant Garden Tennis.’

“S-Sorry,” said Sora, bringing his hand away from his face. “I-I mean, yeah. I’m okay.”

“Tough day, huh?”

“Uh, yeah.” A moment passed before Sora realized he was staring. “Oh! Um, I’m Sora!” He extended his hand to shake. “Nice to meet you!”

The boy chuckled, and it was maybe the cutest sound Sora’s ever heard. He wasn’t sure. Possibly. It’s definitely up there. Okay, maybe it was less because of the sound and more because the boy making the sound was tremendously cute and Sora just made him laugh. Holy crap.

“Nice to meet you, Sora. I’m Riku.”

Sora stared into those crystal-clear eyes and thought, _okay, maybe it’s not such a bad day after all._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've planned most of the fic out already and i'm really having fun with this AU :) the major characters are the ones listed in the tags and i plan to give everyone their own arcs and time to shine!! i hope you guys will enjoy reading this fic even half as much i do in making it.
> 
> the next chapter will have some roxas and the introduction to lea and the other nobodies :)


	2. The Nobodies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxas hears about Radiant Garden's local rock band.

Sora returned to the dorm still grinning. Riku’s hands had been surprisingly soft when he’d shaken it. God. Sora’s cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Riku was in the tennis club. Maybe if they met again, he can ask if there’s a place left so Ventus could join… His head raced with excited thoughts of a new friend as he fumbled with the keys to his dorm room.

When he finally managed to get the key into door, he pushed it open to find Roxas laying on the top bunk of their bunk bed, drumming along to a beat on the handmade cajon Cid had crafted for him.

“Hey,” said Roxas.

“Hi,” Sora said, putting his hand through his brown hair to help distract himself from smiling like an idiot.

“What are _you_ smiling so much for?” asked Roxas from the top bunk.

“Nothing!” said Sora too quickly. He slung his backpack off his shoulders and threw it onto the bottom bunk, watching it bounce several times on the mattress. “Oh, wow.” He hopped onto the bed, bouncing along with it. “It’s so soft!”

“I know, right?” said Roxas. “I can get used to this.”

Sora laughed, kicking off his shoes and leaning against the pillow, only to drown in its fluff. “Oh, I can _definitely_ get used to this.” He stretched his arms and leaned further back into the soft bed. “Oh hey, where’s Ven?”

“In his room. You remember which one, right? It’s two doors down.”

“Ooh. Wonder who he got as his roommate. I hope they get along.”

“Met him. Another senior. Think his name was Lauriam? Pink hair. Kind of stand-offish if you ask me. He’s in a band though so I guess that’s cool.”

“A band? Like marching band or…?”

“ _No_ . Like a _band_ -band. Don’t know what kind of music they play though. They’re called The Nobodies.”

“Whoa, a band! That’s so cool. Roxas, why don’t you join?” A pillow flew towards Sora’s face. He let out a muffled, “Ow.” He flung it off and manoeuvred to peer up at the top bunk. “What was that for?”

Roxas gave an exaggeratedly annoyed sigh. “Ventus asked already, alright? He did it without me even telling him and it was embarrassing. They’ve already got a drummer.”

“That’s not embarrassing.”

“You didn’t see the guy’s face! He gave like this stupid amused expression and looked at me like I was just some stupid kid. I’m not even that much younger than him.”

“Well, then that guy’s a jerk. I bet their band isn’t even that good. They’re missing out, you know? You’re like… the best drummer I know!”

“I’m the only drummer you know,” Roxas sighed.

#

Lea rocked his head to the beat as sweat beaded up on his forehead in the glare of the stage lights. He sang the bridge and followed the percussion’s quick tempo as he changed chords and to gear up for his guitar solo. Despite the lingering humidity of summer thick in the night and the discomfort of his clothes clinging onto his damp skin, Lea had never felt so good.

The crowd’s cheers and the roars of the amplifier thrummed through his ears as the guitar’s trills coursed through his veins. He shredded through his solo and finished the final verse with panting breath. The crowd hollered and whooped with applause.

“Thank you!” he said into the mic, still breathless. As the crowd responded with one last round of applause, he waved to the crowd before retreating backstage with the rest of the band.

Without the excitement of being onstage, the night’s exhaustion hit him hard. He shrugged off his leather jacket and carefully put his guitar into its worn case.

“Phew!” Demyx whistled, shouldering off his own guitar. “Great job tonight, you --”

“We were sloppy.”

Lea looked up from his guitar to see Luxord, a thirty-something blond man and also their bass guitarist. “Axel,” he said, “by any chance, do you think you could not go completely off the mark with your guitar solos next time? Most of those songs weren’t even supposed to have guitar solos.”

“Oh, come on,” Lea said, flopping onto a bench and wiping the sweat on his forehead. “The crowd loved it.”

“ _You_ loved it,” said Luxord. “You may be our vocalist but this is not _your_ band. You can’t just do whatever you want. You have to learn to play by the rules sometime.”

“Ugh, can you shut up already?” Elrena, their drummer, a girl one year Lea’s senior, walked over as she rolled her eyes. “As annoying as Lea is, he’s right. The people love his stupid guitar solos. You jealous or something?” The annoyance on her sharp features twisted into a sneer.

“It sure seems so,” said Lauriam, their pianist, who followed close behind Elrena. He straightened his floral jacket and gave a disapproving shake of his head.

“Oh, please.” Luxord scoffed. “Remind me again why I’m in a band with a bunch of teenagers again?”

“Because!” Demyx said, throwing an arm around Luxord with a grin. “You need the cash, buddy. And face it, these teenagers are making you more bucks than all your stints at the gambling dens.”

“That’s it,” Luxord said. He shoved Demyx off and threw a punch.

Lea stepped in before it landed. With Luxord’s fist in his grip, he gave a humourless laugh. “How drunk are you, old man?”

“Old -- ?”

“Yeah, old,” Elrena said. She gave Luxord a hard shove with her perfectly manicured hand, effectively pushing him out of Lea’s grip, tripping from the loss of balance until he met the ground with a thud. “If you wanna go around punching widdle, defenceless kids half your age,” her blue eyes turned deadly, “you’ve got another thing coming.” She stood over him with crossed arms. “Scram.”

“What?” Luxord stood up, brushing himself off. “You’ve got to be joking. You can’t kick the most valuable player out of the game!”

“We most definitely can and we will,” said Lauriam smoothly. “Oops. I mean, ‘are.’”

“That’s right,” said Elrena with a smile and her light sing-song voice before immediately switching into a scowl, voice low. “Get lost with all your fucking game metaphors already. I mean it.”

“You heard the lady,” said Lea with a shrug.

With a huff and a string of muttered curses, Luxord grabbed his things and stalked off.

“Well then,” Lea chuckled. “Guess we need a new bassist, huh?” He turned around to find that Elrena had already walked away and Demyx had followed. He shook his head and went after them, slinging his guitar case over his shoulder.

“Wow, Larxene,” said Demyx with wide eyes. He walked quickly as he tried to keep up with Elrena’s quick pace. “I never thought you’d stand up for me!”

“I didn’t stand up for you, dipshit,” Elrena said over her shoulder. “And don’t call me that.”

“Why not? It’s your name!” called Demyx, jogging now.

“He’s hopeless,” said Lauriam with a small smile, walking in pace with Lea.

“It’s not my name,” Elrena shouted back, a good hundred feet between them now. “You guys were the ones that decided it was cool to have stage names. It’s not!”

“I’d give it a rest if I were you, Dem,” Lea called to his friend, who was still trying to catch up to Elrena.

Lauriam continued to watch the scene while Lea pushed his hands in his pockets and lifted his chin in the air to feel the early-autumn breeze against his skin. It was a nice night, and he couldn’t say that the ridiculousness of Demyx tripping over himself to talk to Elrena ruined it. It was nice. Hanging out with friends. Well, sort-of-friends. Elrena would kill him if he called her anything other than ‘work associate.’ And Lauriam was, well… He didn’t really talk much.

“Isn’t she amazing?” Demyx said dreamily as he approached them again. “I think I wanna marry her.”

“Dude, what? Elrena?” Lea barked out a laugh. “She can kick your ass five times without breaking a sweat.”

“Agreed,” said Lauriam.

“You’re just proving my point here, guys!” Demyx sighed, a lazy smile on his face. “She’s awesome.”

“Yeah?” Lea said. “And I’m pretty sure she’s into girls, too.”

“What?” Demyx asked. “Did she tell you that?”

“Nope,” Lea shrugged. “Just a feeling. I guess some people might call it ‘gaydar.’”

“Gaydar?” Lauriam repeated. “Is that truly a thing?”

Demyx laughed. “No way that’s real.”

“Oh, it is,” said Lea. “Every time I come near someone even remotely queer, my brain just starts beeping non-stop until I’m out of their radius again. And let me tell you, it makes a lot of noise whenever I’m going through the school hallways.”

“Pfft, yeah right,” said Demyx. “You’re the only gay kid in school.”

“Oh, please,” said Lea. "That’s the biggest joke of the century.”

“Huh?” said Demyx.

Lea opened his mouth to respond but found himself tripping over a rock on the ground. He tumbled over with a groan. Moving to stand, he realized that his right foot felt oddly cold.

“Are you alright?” asked Lauriam.

Lea frowned. He tapped his right foot against the gravel, confirming his suspicions.

“Great,” he groaned.

“What?” asked Demyx. “You okay, dude?”

“Ugh.” Lea tugged hard on the boot on his right foot until it finally slipped off. He lifted it in the air, its peeled sole dangling lamely off the bottom.

“Yikes,” said Demyx.

“How old are those boots exactly?” asked Lauriam.

“Not sure. Got it online for real cheap.”

“Well, I guess now you know why!” Demyx laughed. “How are you gonna get home now?”

“Guess I got no choice but to hopscotch my way back.” Lea frowned. “Or walk barefoot on one leg.” He shrugged, tucking the boot under his arm before walking on. “Useless shoes aside, we need a new member now that Luxord’s gone.”

“Agreed,” said Lauriam. “We’re useless without bass.”

“I could play bass,” said Demyx.

“I don’t know,” said Lea. “I mean, you _can_. But I don’t want to lose our lead guitarist.”

“Oh…” Demyx sighed. “Right. Guess I could put up some flyers around the city. I’m sure we’ll get a replacement in no time. We’re like celebrities, you know?”

Lea considered their group: Lea walking with only one shoe wearing whatever was on sale from Hot Topic and Demyx sporting his terrible mullet. Lauriam was the only one who could’ve passed as a celebrity with all the expensive clothes he wore. Whatever it was, Lea was most definitely _not_ ‘a celebrity.’ Although they did well considering their popularity in school and their gigs paid way more than working at the supermarket would, Lea's detention streaks and numerous lectures by his parents kept his head on the ground. So he just gave a half-hearted, “Right.”

“It’d be better if we could get someone from our school,” said Demyx. “Or at least, I dunno, our age? I just hope we don’t get weirdos signin’ up this time.” He sighed.

“And Luxord wasn’t a notorious gambler with millions in debt and alcoholic tendencies?” said Lauriam. “It doesn’t matter who they are as long as they can play well.”

“And if we get an even weirder weirdo?” said Demyx.

Lea shrugged. “Whoever it is, I'm sure we'll find them in no time.”

#

“Still nothing, huh?” Elrena said, placing her hand on her hip, glaring at Lea and Demyx who were sprawled atop the sun-bleached leather couch in Demyx’s garage. Lauriam stood behind her, filing his nails with his back against the wall. “We haven’t gotten a gig in weeks,” Elrena continued. “Tell me you’re at least close to finding a new bassist.”

“Sorry, Larxene.” Demyx sunk further into the couch, fingers picking at the stuffing popping out from the seams. “We’ve held tons of auditions. None of them even came close to Luxord!”

“And Luxord wasn’t even that good,” Lea said with a frown.

“Besides,” Demyx said, “it’s not like you and Marluxia were even there to help! Axel and I had to do all the work.”

“Our parents are hounding us over college prep, okay? I can make time for a gig that pays, but I’m leaving the legwork to you.” Elrena fixed them a pointed look. Then, she dropped her gaze to the floor and sighed. “Speaking of college prep… You guys might have to find a replacement for me and Lauriam, too.”

Demyx shot up in his seat. “What? But Larxene --”

“Not my name,” said Elrena. “And I’m sorry, but we have entrance exams to study for this year. Can’t be stuck with you idiots forever.”

“Sure you can!” said Demyx.

“You don’t even try to deny that you’re an idiot, do you?” Lea said. He then faced Elrena and Lauriam, trying his best not to let his frown show. “When will you guys be leaving?”

“After a few more gigs was our initial plan,” said Lauriam. “But at this rate, we don’t know when our next gig will even be.”

Elrena nodded. “If you guys don’t get a new bassist soon, we might have to leave before we can even perform again.”

“What?” Demyx cried.

“Can you not shout?” Elrena rubbed her ear with the palm of her hand.

“Honestly, can’t we just put Demyx on bass?” said Lauriam. “We could do what other bands do and play over a pre-recording of the rhythm track.”

Lea stuck his tongue out. “I don’t like it.”

“Whatever it is,” said Elrena, “we’ll be gone by the end of the month. Whether or not we get to fit in a last show.”

“No,” said Lea, sitting up straight. “You guys are gonna perform again before you go! It’ll be your last show. Like... a farewell concert. I can see it now." He put his palms out in the air in a flourish. "It’ll be our greatest performance yet.”

Lauriam laughed.

“Without a bassist?” Elrena said with a raised eyebrow.

“We’ll find someone,” said Lea, stretching his long arms over his head as he got off the couch. “We have to. It’ll be Larxene’s and Marluxia’s last show.”

Elrena smirked and placed her hand at her chest, feigning surprise.“Wow, _Axel_ , don’t tell me you’re going to miss us?”

“I’m flattered,” Lauriam said with a smirk.

“Hey, _he_ gets to call you Larxene?” Demyx said.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” said Lea with a wave of his hand as he walked away from the two of them and headed toward the garage door. “The Nobodies kind of owe you two anyway, considering it was thanks to your scamming that we landed our first show.”

“You’re absolutely right,” cackled Elrena. “I still think The Nobodies is a shitty name, though.” She shook her head, and Lauriam nodded in agreement.

“Hey!” said Demyx. “I thought it was cool…”

“Exactly why it sucks,” said Elrena.

Demyx pouted.

Lea took a deep breath. Auditions weren’t going anywhere. Still. He did have an idea of where to get their emergency bassist. He just wasn’t sure if it was a good one.”

#

Lea waited in front of the music room, peering in through the narrow window of the door. It seemed like their session just ended as the students rose from their seats and began to collect their things. He took a deep breath, thinking twice and thrice about this idea as the chatter from inside grew and people began to file out of the room.

He leaned against the wall, hands stuffed into his pockets as the students passed him by, talking loudly amongst themselves. He watched each of them, unable to find the one he was looking for among any of them. _Did he not come today?_ When it seemed the last of them had left, he peered back into the room. His eyes lit up and he smiled.

Taking another deep breath, he strode into the room, hands still in his pockets and mustered a smile that he hoped oozed confidence.

“Hey,” he said.

The lone boy sitting in the room looked up from the violin case in his lap, hand midway through stuffing a book into the messenger bag on the seat next to him.

“Lea.”

Isa’s wide blue eyes staring at him as Lea approached made whatever suave confidence he mustered falter in a split second and his breath hitch. _God,_  Lea thought. _I am doomed._ Still, he took another breath and tried a sly smile, hoping it worked.

“How’s it hanging?”

Isa’s face -- _and god damn it, did he have a beautiful face_ \-- twisted into a confused frown.

 _Okay_ , Lea thought. _Definitely not working._

“Lea,” said Isa before hushing his voice to a whisper. “What are you doing here?”

“Came to see you. Duh.”

“I told you we can’t --” Isa looked around, peering around Lea to make sure nobody was at the door listening in. With another sideways glance, he continued, “We can’t meet in public. My parents don’t want me talking to you. If they find out that I’m --”

Lea sighed. “Look, I just needed to talk to you real quick, okay?”

“Can’t this wait for when we…” Isa’s turned red. “Meet at our usual place?”

Lea couldn’t help the grin that grew on his face at the mention of the weekly meetings that took place at a nook in the city park, which they’d frequented since they were kids. Of course, their meetings there now weren’t as innocent as their playdates were as children.

“To be honest,” said Lea, scratching the back of his neck, “I didn’t really wanna ruin our special time to talk about this. So I figured I’d catch you before you left. I’ll be quick, I promise.”

“What do you mean ruin?” Isa asked, the redness of his face going away as he furrowed his brows together. “What’s this about, Lea?”

“The Nobodies --”

“ _Oh no_.”

“See? This is why I didn’t wanna bring this up while we were at our special spot.”

“Whatever it is, Lea, the answer is no.”

“You don’t even know what I’m going to ask yet! At least give me a chance.”

“I know full well what this is all about. You told me last week that Luxord left.”

“Come on, Isa.”

“Lea, no.”

Isa slammed his violin case shut and stood up to leave. Lea caught his wrist, effectively keeping him where he was. Lea moved closer and inched his face close to Isa’s ear.

“Please?” he whispered, almost a purr.

Immediately, he saw the tips of Isa’s ears turn red.

“ _Lea_.” There was an edge to his voice. A warning. Still, Lea had never been one to back off so easily.

Lea moved closer, placing his hands over both of Isa’s shoulders. “It’ll be _one_ time. That’s it.”

Even with Isa’s back to him, he could see Isa’s frown deepening. Lea waited and leaned his cheek against the side of Isa’s head. He heard Isa’s breath hitch just before getting shoved backwards.

“We’re in public,” said Isa.

“So?” Lea challenged, straightening his back. Then, with a low voice, he said, “We’re alone.”

Isa’s face turned red as a tomato and Lea had to bite his tongue to keep himself from laughing. Isa scowled at him and gave what almost sounded like a growl.

“One time,” said Isa.

“Yes. Just this once and I won’t ask again. Please?”

Isa bit his lip, his uncertainty clear in his cerulean eyes. “Promise?”

“No, I’m not falling for that one. I’d like to keep my promises, thanks.”

Isa narrowed his eyes at him, though it lost all the effect of a glare because he was picking at his fingers.

“So?” Lea said.

“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”

Lea threw his head back and barked out a laugh. “Maybe. I owe you one.”

Isa groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose, clearly already regretting it.

"I'll have to figure out a way to make this work to my parents, Lea. They're not going to like it."

"Oh, don't worry about that. I already have a plan."

"Do you?" Isa smiled. "How the tables turn."

Lea laughed and held out his hand. “Welcome back to the band. Saïx.”

#

Roxas waved Sora and Ventus goodbye as they parted ways to their separate classrooms. Despite being in the same grade, they got sorted into different classes. Roxas was in the second class and Sora was in the third, but why was Sora walking over to the first class? He watched Sora bounce on his feet over to a tall boy leaning against the wall as he stared at his phone.

Roxas shrugged, figuring Sora had already made some new friends as expected, and turned to enter his own classroom. Much to Roxas’ luck, he hadn’t made any friends since they arrived. It’d been two weeks already. He sighed and dragged his feet to his desk and flopped into his chair.

The school was nice, really. It was just… boring. Everyone was so preppy and _boring_. Roxas sighed, taking out his books and stationeries just as an incredibly high pitch squeal came from behind him.

“Geez, Tidus, calm down!”

Roxas peered a little over his shoulder to see two of his classmates, Rikku and Tidus, the former standing over the desk behind Roxas’ and the latter sitting with both hands clasped over his mouth.

“Sorry about that,” said Tidus.

Roxas chuckled and shook his head before turning around, but kept his ears peeled on their continued conversation.

“Anyway,” Rikku said, “yeah, it’s this weekend. And you’ll never guess what.”

“What?” asked Tidus.

“Isa “I’m-too-good-for-anyone” Vinter is performing again.”

“ _What?_ ” Tidus gasped. Then he howled with laughter. “You’ve got to be kidding me! Isa Vinter? Student body president Isa Vinter? ‘My dad is one of the most powerful men in the city’ Isa Vinter? _That_ Isa Vinter?”

“Yup. Though I guess he’ll be taking his old stage name again.”

Tidus laughed again. “Oh, man. What the hell though? Why’s he back?”

“Dunno. But I think it’s some special performance. This’ll be Larxene and Marluxia’s last time performing.”

“ _What_?” Tidus shrieked.

“You really have to stop that.”

“Well. I mean, I guess they _are_ seniors now. And have other priorities. But still. That sucks! Larxene’s _amazing!_ If she leaves, no one can ever replace her on drums!”

Roxas perked his head up from his book.

“Yeah,” Rikku said. “She’s a savage. And with _two_ members leaving, this might just be the end of The Nobodies.”

“Oh, come on, no way.”

“You said it yourself. No one can replace her! Or Marluxia for that matter. ”

“Eh, there’s plenty of keyboard players in our school. Did you forget we’ve got one of the best music programmes in the state?”

“Classical music,” Rikku corrected. “Know anyone else in our school who plays drums?”

And at that, Roxas whipped his head around to face his classmates, his face stretched into an enormous grin as Tidus and Rikku stared at him with wide eyes.

“I do!" Roxas exclaimed.

But his classmates just gaped at him, incredulous at the wild look on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright, so far 6/10 of the main characters have been introduced. i'll have the girls introduced soon, i promise! though it might be a while before i get to write namixi but i promise it WILL happen and they won't be sidelined as a minor pairing in the fic. i love them too much to just do that to 'em :')
> 
> next chapter will be all about the farewell concert :)


	3. Talk of the Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is buzzing about a show happening in town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: i wanna do biweekly chapter updates :)  
> also me: [didn't post any chapter for a whole week]

“My band is having a special performance soon.”

Ventus whirled around to look at his roommate, who hadn’t turned away from his homework as he sat at one of the desks in their room, his back facing Ventus. The warm light from the desk lamp was the only thing illuminating the room, and it cast Lauriam’s pink hair in a deep plum.

“Oh yeah?” said Ventus, adjusting himself to sit more comfortably on the bed as he read tomorrow’s material. “You guys are The Nobodies right?”

“That’s right,” said Lauriam.

“Yeah, I heard some of my classmates talking about it earlier. You’re friends with them right?”

“Who?”

“Ephemer and Skuld. They’re my classmates.”

“Oh, yes. We’re all part of the literature club.”

“Literature? Really?” Ventus bit his lip to contain a laugh. “That’s, um…” Nerdy was the first thing that came to mind if he was honest to himself. He shook his head. “I thought you’d be part of the music club or something.”

“Someone can have more than one interest, Ventus Hikari.”

Ventus blinked. _Okay then_ , he thought. From the way he spoke and how dramatic Lauriam could be, Ventus supposed it wasn’t far fetched at all for Lauriam to be part of something like the literature club. _But still_ , he thought. ‘Cool rockstar’ just somehow didn’t quite fit with ‘literature club.’

“Anyway,” Lauriam said, still not looking up from his work. “My band’s show. We'll be performing at a... festival, of sorts. You should come. Our singer is eager to make this as huge as he can make it and insists on us giving away some tickets for free, so. I’m giving one to you.”

“Really?” Ventus sat up.

“Yes?”

“That’s awesome! Thanks!” Ventus leaned back against the headboard and looked up at the grain in the wood of the bed above him. “Uh, what about my brothers?” He smiled sheepishly even though he knew Lauriam couldn’t see him. “They’d love to go.”

Lauriam clicked his tongue. “Sure, why not? I’ll even let them each bring a plus one while I’m at it.”

“Whoa, really?" Ventus grinned. "You’re the best, Lauriam!”

“I’m aware. Although, try to at least fix your wardrobe. Yours and your brothers. We’ll be hosting it at The Garden Square.”

Ventus choked on his own spit. After a full minute of coughing ("Are you okay?" Lauriam had asked, finally turning around to face Ventus who'd only waved a dismissive hand), Ventus rasped, “Oh. Holy-- Just. Okay. That’s... fancy. Uh, how did you guys, um...”

“Have you heard of the Vinter family?”

With one final cough to clear his throat, he took a breath and replied, “Yes? I mean, duh, who hasn’t? You only see ‘Vinter Group Corporations’ everywhere you go in Radiant Garden. Don’t they own like half the property in the city?”

“More than half. Anyway, the Vinters have a son who goes here." He paused. "He also happens to be in our band now.”

Ventus blinked. “Okay. Wow.” He scratched the side of his head. “I think I heard of him. He’s the student body president I think…”

“That’s the one."

"How'd you pull that off?"

"What do you mean ‘how did we pull it off’? We’re not scamming him.”

Ventus laughed. “No, I mean, I heard that he’s really… uh, how do I put it…”

“A petty stuck-up son of a bitch?”

“I wouldn’t use those _exact_ words...”

“Quite frankly, the details on how this happened still eludes me as well. Alas, such matters are none of your concern. Just be there and look nice enough to fit in with Radiant Garden’s high society. Is that doable?”

“High society?” Ventus scratched his nose, his mind already going through all the clothes he had in his wardrobe. Should he wear a suit? He frowned. The only suit he had was borrowed from Leon and had been twice his size before Aerith helped alter it. Still, a suit wasn’t really something to wear to a rock show, no matter how high-end the show. He’d probably have to shop for some new clothes… “When is this gonna be anyway?”

“The end of this month. Show starts at eight. There’ll be booths selling refreshments and food among other things. A warning though: everything will probably be overpriced. Free tickets don't exempt you from paying for those.”

“Noted, then,” Ventus chuckled half-heartedly. “Thanks, Lauriam.”

Ventus stared at the reading material in his lap. _Exactly who are these guys?_ he thought with a frown. Ventus had never even heard of them before and now they were performing at a festival in The Garden Square of all places.

“Oh,” Lauriam said, breaking Ventus’ train of thought. “You mentioned that Ephemer and Skuld are your classmates. Do you talk to them often?”

“Not really. Haven’t really made friends here yet.” He gave a nervous laugh. “Everyone’s kind of intimidating you know? It’s really new for me since I’ve been living in the inner-city since I was eleven, and before that, I didn’t even live in the same state. So yeah. Taking some time to adjust, I guess.”

Lauriam hummed. “You should talk to them. They’re nice. I didn’t have many friends here at first either. I moved halfway through the year during 9th grade. But then I met Ephemer and Skuld in the literature club. And, well, I suppose the rest is history.”

Ventus nodded. “Huh. You’re not as bad as I thought you’d be, Lauriam.”

A pause. “Excuse me?”

#

Roxas had been smiling like a maniac until long after classes had ended. He fidgeted and restlessly drummed along on his cajon as he waited for Sora to come back. These days, Sora returned to their room later and later. Roxas didn’t want to admit it, but he was a little jealous at how quickly Sora made new friends while Roxas still hadn’t made much progress in that department.

 _Oh well_ , he thought. _That’s all going to change_ _once I get into this band._ He’d never even heard of The Nobodies before. They were probably a small-time group that mostly performed for school events and stuff. It would explain why they seemed popular among his classmates. It didn’t matter how small they were now anyway. Roxas would help them become breakout stars. A smile grew on his face as he imagined how a group of uppity seniors would react to having their most talented member be an 8th Grader from the inner-city. His head ran wild with a million different scenarios.

When the door clicked open, Roxas shot up in his seat and put the cajon aside.

“Hey, I’m --”

“I’m gonna join a band!” Roxas proudly exclaimed, jumping off the top bunk and landing a foot away from Sora.

“Whoa, wait a minute, _what_?” Sora grinned. “Oh my god, tell me everything.”

So Roxas flailed around the room explaining what he’d heard in class as Sora responded with equal enthusiasm. Roxas paced back and forth around the room, not caring if he was talking too loud in the quiet of the late night.

“Man, that’s so awesome!” Sora said with a wide grin, bouncing as he sat on his bed, matching Roxas’ high energy.

“What is?”

They jolted and spun around to find Ventus standing by the door, a small smile on his lips. He shut the door softly behind him and walked in, hands behind his back.

“Hey, Ven!” said Sora. “What are you doing here?”

“You left the door unlocked,” said Ventus, though that hardly answered the question. “That’s dangerous you know. Aqua wouldn’t be happy to hear that.”

“Who cares?” said Roxas. “Look, you’ll never guess what --”

“Oh, can I go first?” said Ventus. Before Roxas could respond, Ventus took his hands out from behind his back and held up a glossy, bright-coloured poster out in front of them.

Roxas took it to take a closer look. Big bold letters at the top read, ‘ _RADIANT GARDEN FALL FESTIVAL: Bringing The Arts to Radiant Garden Like Never Before.’_ Beneath that, read, ‘ _With a Special Farewell Performance by THE NOBODIES,’_ followed by a list of local acts Roxas had never heard of. At the bottom of the poster, in all capital letters, read, ‘ _SPONSORED BY THE VINTER GROUP.’_

Roxas’ face fell.

“What?” Ventus said. “Oh, come on, Roxas. Don’t you want to go? We're getting free tickets thanks to Lauriam. Isn’t that nice of him?”

Roxas pursed his lips. He saw Sora enter his peripheral vision, looking over his shoulder to read the poster.

“ 'Farewell performance,' " Sora read aloud. "So it’s true that the band’s breaking up?”

“Yeah,” Ventus said, taking a seat at the foot of Roxas and Sora’s bed. “Lauriam and Elrena need to focus on college prep and everything. They’re making a huge thing out of it and Lauriam invited me! I asked if you guys could come too, and he said yeah! He even said you guys can each bring a plus one. Free of charge. Apparently, these tickets are exclusive. Isn’t that cool?”

“Holy fudge cakes!” Sora exclaimed, snatching the poster from Roxas’ hands and moving to sit on the bottom bunk, feet dangling next to Ventus. “This sounds amazing! Oh man, Lauriam sounds awesome! Who just gives away free tickets like that?”

“I know, I was surprised too,” said Ventus with a chuckle. “I didn’t expect that all. We never really talked much before, but we got to a little bit just now, and he seems like a good guy.”

“I wonder why it’s so sudden, though?” Sora hummed, putting the poster at arm's length and tilting his head to analyze its gaudy colours. “He doesn’t talk to you since you moved in, now suddenly he’s giving you free tickets to a music festival?”

“I dunno,” said Ventus. “He seems really nice, if not a little bit dramatic and stand-offish. He said one of his bandmates told him to give some tickets away for free, and I guess I'm just lucky 'cause I got to be his roommate.”

“Right,” said Roxas.

“Oh, come on,” said Ventus. “I thought you’d be happy to hear about it.”

“No, no, I’m _way_ more than happy!” Sora said. “Just ignore me.” Sora grinned as he clutched the poster close. “Oh my god, this is going to be so _cool_. I’m gonna invite Riku. You think he’ll say yes?”

“Who?” asked Roxas with a frown. Ventus blinked at Sora, looking just as curious.

“You know him!” said Sora. “He’s a year older than us. Tall, buff, silver hair, really cool…”

“Oh, him,” said Roxas flatly.

“What?” Sora exclaimed. “Riku’s great! He’s super nice and fun and he’s a star tennis player, remember?”

“Right, right,” said Ventus, nodding. “I remember him now. You met him on the first day, right? Sure, you can invite him.”

Roxas’ frown deepened. He passed Ventus who sat on the floor and climbed straight up the bed to the top bunk, flopping onto the mattress.

“Roxas?” said Ventus. In a split second, his head popped up from the side of the bed, concerned blue eyes peering at him. “You okay? I thought you’d be more excited about this.”

“The thing I wanted to tell you,” Roxas mumbled.

“Oh, right, sorry!” said Ventus. “What was it you wanted to say?”

He didn’t turn to look at Ventus and opted to stare up at the ceiling instead. With a soft grunt, he muttered, “I wanted to join the band.”

“Lauriam’s band?” Ventus asked.

“Yeah!” Sora’s voice piped up from the bunk below. “I mean this is gonna be a farewell performance. That means Roxas can take the place of the drummer when they leave!”

“That’s great, Rox!” said Ventus. “That sounds perfect actua --”

“Lauriam didn’t really like me the first time I met him,” said Roxas. “He didn’t like that I wanted to join their band. You think he’d want me taking his place once he leaves?”

“Who cares what he thinks?” said Sora. “You didn’t just now.”

Roxas groaned, leaning back against the bed, landing next to Sora’s feet. “What if he’s right though?” he said. “What if I’m stupid for wanting to join?” He covered his face with his hands and leaned further back into his pillow. “I thought they were just some dumb garage band that barely got any gigs. Turns out they’re good enough to have fans squealing over them and fucking _huge_ enough to headline a festival at The Garden Square. You know who performs there? The Foretellers. The Dark Seekers. Even fucking _Maleficent_ for god’s sake.”

“Who?” asked Sora.

“They’re _legends_ ,” said Roxas, throwing his arms in the air. “It pisses me off. I never even heard of them before but apparently, around here, they’re like celebrities or some shit. How the hell am I supposed to compete with that?”

“Aw, Roxas,” said Sora, his head popping up in Roxas’ peripheral vision next to Ventus. “You’re gonna _join_ them. Not compete with them. Besides, they’re not better than you just because they can book a big venue.”

“You’re kidding, right?” said Roxas. “Of course that’s what it means. If I try to join them, they’re just gonna laugh at me. Ven, you saw how Lauriam looked when you suggested I join them that first time you met. There’s no way they’re gonna let me in." He groaned. "Guess I’ll just go to the stupid festival and watch them perform and just be a fucking groupie or something.”

“Hey now,” said Ventus. “Don’t count yourself out yet. You’re amazing. You’ll just have to show them once you get your chance. For now, let’s just go to the festival and have a fun time, alright? And even if you don't want to watch the performance, there’s plenty of other stuff to do there too. There’s booths and art galleries and…”

Roxas glared at the ceiling, pointedly ignoring Ventus.

“O- _kay_ ,” said Ventus. “Hey. Maybe you’re just part of the audience _now_. But soon I’m sure you’ll get your chance to be onstage with them.”

“Heck,” said Sora. “If not with _them_ , you can just find another band to join. Or hey, no one can stop you from making your own band, right?”

“Exactly,” said Ventus. “Look, Rox, they haven’t even broken up and held auditions for replacements yet. Don’t bring yourself down about it now.”

“Ugh,” was all Roxas could think of to say.

“I'm sure things will turn out fine, you'll see,” Ventus reassured. But Roxas remained unconvinced.

#

Sora had said goodnight to Ventus with a hug while Roxas continued to mope throughout the night. When Sora had turned off the lights and settled into bed, he had given a small goodnight to Roxas, but had gotten no reply. He’d sighed, hoping his younger twin would feel better in the morning, and had rolled over and fallen asleep in minutes.

The next morning, Sora jumped out of bed, head buzzing with thoughts of the upcoming festival and bringing a certain silver-haired tennis player along. Sora couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face as his head crafted a million wacky scenarios of him and Riku acting like the people in all the teen rom-com movies he loved to watch. The image of Riku slowly turning his way as the band played a rock ballad, his hair fluttering in the soft wind as his his emerald eyes met Sora’s was enough to put Sora bouncing in his seat for all of his classes that day.

And he hadn't even begun exploring the idea of meeting new people at the festival and gaining a whole new _group_ of friends. _The whole school is probably going to be there, right?_  he thought. That’s _a_ huge _opportunity to make new friends._

He drummed his fingers against the table as the teacher droned on at the front of the classroom. The others sitting around him were either dozing off or spacing out. Sora took a deep breath, trying to tone down his energy.

 _I’d probably bump into someone while we’re waiting for the band to come onstage,_ he mused. _I’d be like “whoa, sorry!” and they’d laugh it off, then we’d introduce ourselves. I’d tell them I got the tickets for free and they’d be so impressed!_

The clock above the blackboard read 3.10pm. Just five more minutes.

 _And I’ll be like “yeah, I totally know the band members.” We’d become friends and they’d introduce me to their friends and then we’d all take a bunch of funny pictures with all the different face filters on Snapchat. I’d finally be able to have a Snapchat streak with someone! We'd post dumb pictures of each other on our Instagram accounts too._  Sora bit his lip to conceal his grin. _This_   _is. Going. To be. Awesome._

The bell rang. Sora leapt out of his seat and shoved all his books into his bag before racing out the classroom, shouting a few apologies as he bumped into a few of his classmates along the way.

The hallways were already crowded with students leaving their classrooms. Sora groaned and stood on his tip-toes to look for a head of silver hair. Was he too late? Had Riku gone already? He pushed through the crowd, mumbling more apologies, and made his way for Class G8-A. He scanned through the faces of students and frowned. Trying to push aside how his heart sank, he turned around. Then he spotted Riku making his way to the main entrance and his face immediately lit up.

“Hey, Riku!”

Riku turned on his heel, his face breaking into a wide grin as Sora ran up to join him at his side to walk out the building together.

“Hey, Sora. How were classes today?”

“Huh? Oh. Just the same I guess.” He pursed his lips. “The classes are kinda killing me though. I don’t get why algebra has to exist. It doesn’t make any sense!”

“It’s not that bad," Riku said with a chuckle. "Hey, you still want to come over to my room today? You mentioned you wanted to see the new console my parents bought me.”

“Oh, yeah!” Sora exclaimed. He’d completely forgotten about their plans with all his hype about the festival. Speaking of which; “Oh, by th--”

"Oh, but before we get to goof off, I have some homework to get done first. While I’m at it, I can help you go over whichever parts of the syllabus you don’t understand. I mean, if you want.”

“What? Wait a minute, I --"

"Don't worry, we can still film a 'let's-play' when we're done. I got a horror game. I'm sure you screaming your face off would give you plenty of views."

"Wh-- Hey, I --"

“I'll never forget how you screamed all the way through Ju-On last time. Pretty sure you were _this_ ,” he pinched his fingers close together, “close to pissing your pants.”

“Was not!” Sora slapped Riku’s arm -- his very solid, thick arms and _ugh_ , he had to get a grip. “You’re such a jerk.”

Riku laughed. “Fine, we don't have to play a horror game. But whatever it is, homework comes first. Didn’t all your friends from the cafe nag you all night long on the phone last night about passing all your classes?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me! That was so embarrassing…”

“I think it’s sweet that they all care about you. Do your brothers get the same type of calls or just you since they know you’re a slacker?”

“I'm not a slacker! U mean, I guess I’m the only one who gets those kinds of calls but…” He looked up to see Riku smiling like he was holding back a laugh. “Ugh, shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Riku said in a sing-song voice and shrugged.

Sora sighed, hanging his head low for a second before remembering what he’d wanted to tell Riku in the first place and perking up again. “Oh, hey, I just remembered! Before you rudely interrupted me, I wanted to tell you something. You know my brother’s roommate, Lauriam? You know he’s in this band, right?”

“‘Course. The Nobodies are a big deal in our school one way or another. There’s a big chunk of people who are huge fans and another group of people who hate them. A _lot_.”

“Wait. Hate them?”

“Yeah." Riku shrugged. "They’re kind of... jerks.”

“Huh? Ventus said Lauriam’s nice. He invited us to their performance at the Fall Festival!”

Riku chuckled. “Oh, that? Yeah, I heard people talking about it. Those aren't invites-only, you know that, right? Anyone can come as long as you pay. From what I heard, the ticket prices are pretty steep.”

“We don’t have to pay,” Sora grinned, folding his arms behind his head.

Riku frowned. “You can go watch them. Just don't get crazy over the hype, okay? They’re just… not exactly the nicest people. Be careful.”

“Uh, well, I actually wanted to invite you to see their show with me.”

Riku’s mouth flattened into a thin line. “I don’t know. Not really into their music. Or, you know, them as people.”

“Come on, Riku. It’ll be fun! Lauriam says each of us get to bring a plus-one, so I’m inviting you!”

Riku’s eyes widened. “Oh.” He blinked. “Um… Music festivals aren’t really my scene…”

“What?” Sora pouted. “Come on, it’ll be an experience! I can film the whole thing and put it on my channel when I finally set it up. Oh! That would be a good start to the channel. People would love to watch that kind of stuff, right?”

“R-Right,” Riku said. “But I mean… I don’t know, Sora.”

“Why not? I mean I never heard them play before, but it must be pretty good for people to be such huge fans. Besides, I thought you’re the one who told me ‘hur dur I don’t really have any specific taste in music’ when I wanted to make you that playlist.”

Riku turned away and coughed. “I-I guess.”

“You guess?” Sora beamed, leaning over to look at Riku’s face. “Is that a yes? Please be a yes?”

“I…” Riku bit his lip, still facing away from him. Silence stretched between them as Sora waited for his answer. Then, Riku said. “Fine. Yeah, sure, I’ll go to the Fall Festival with you,” he mumbled.

“Yes!” Sora exclaimed, shooting both his arms into the air and whooping.

#

At nine o’clock sharp, Sora, Roxas, and Ventus got onto the floor of Sora and Roxas’ shared room and squeezed together as they started up the video call on the laptop perched on Sora’s lap. After a few blips, the call picked up and nine people came into view, crammed together to fit into the screen.

“Hey, everyone!” said Ventus, waving to the screen.

Sorai deeply, then said, “Hi, Grandpa Merlin! Hi, Goofy! Hi, Donald! Hi, Leon! Hi, Aqua! Hi, Terra! Hi, Yuffie! Hi, Aerith! Hi, Cid!”

“Aw, where’s Cloud?” said Roxas.

Their nine friends from the cafe stared at them through the screen.

“Cloud’s not here because he’s working late at the station,” said Leon, whose face was cut off at the edge of the screen. As he spoke, his mouth distorted off of his face, leaving a pixelated black mass in its wake. “How are you guys?”

“Oh, oh, oh, you’ll never guess what!” said Sora. “We all got free tickets to this huge festival at The Garden Square!”

Everyone stared at him through the screen.

“ _What_?” said Donald, whose white hair was barely visible at the bottom of the screen.

“I know, right?” Sora said, bouncing in his seat.

“It’s a little hard to believe for me too,” said Ventus. “We got the tickets ‘cause my roommate’s in the band.”

“Huh?” said Aqua.

“Yeah, his name’s Lauriam,” Ventus said. “The band’s a pretty big deal too. Have you guys heard of them? They’re called The Nobodies. They’re really popular in this side of town.”

“No way!” said Yuffie, her face breaking apart into giant pixels as she gaped at the camera.

“You know them?” Roxas frowned.

“Ugh!” Yuffie exclaimed. “You guys, the speaker was off! No wonder we couldn’t hear them."

All at once a chorus of accusatory shouts and complaints echoed from the other side.

“Oh, no, guys,” said Aqua. “I probably did it when I was using it before. Let’s not fight.”

“You would never do that, Aqua,” said Yuffie. “It was probably Leon.”

“Hey, don’t look at me,” said Leon. “Goofy’s holding the thing.”

“Gwarsh, I didn’t press nothin’, Leon,” said Goofy.

“It was my fault,” Aqua repeated. “I probably put the settings in wrong.”

“No, I’m pretty sure it was Donald,” said Terra.

“ _What?_ ” cried Donald, whose face still remained out of view.

“Now, everyone, let’s just find a way to resolve the matter,” Merlin said.

“Hey,” said Cid. “I don’t know about y’all but Aerith’s been awful quiet.”

“ _Really_?” said Aerith.

The squabbling continued as Sora, Roxas, and Ventus exchanged glances and shook their heads.

“Hey,” said Roxas. “I bought more of those Moogle Shop raspberry cheese buns we tried the other day. Want some?”

“Ooh, yeah!” said Sora, putting the laptop aside.

Ventus nodded. “I have some chips I got from the vending machine earlier. Let me go get them…”

The three of them stood and left the laptop on as the increasingly large pixels on the screen continued to bicker.

#

When Isa had told them all to make themselves free after classes ended for a ‘surprise,’ this was not what Lea had expected.

“This is… different,” said Lea, blinking at the sight before him.

The studio Isa had gotten for them was spacious, fully equipped with the latest speakers, expensive instruments, and acoustics so good that he could probably drown in the music they would produce here.

“Holy shit, dude,” Demyx cried as he pushed pass Lea at the door to the studio, making a show of gawking at each and every piece of equipment in the room. “This isn’t just different. It’s fucking amazing!”

“Well, well,” said Elrena, sauntering in with a hand on her hip, the other hand holding her leather jacket over her shoulder. “You’ve outdone yourself, Vinter. I gotta say I’m impressed.”

“Indeed,” said Lauriam following close behind. He peered over Elrena’s shoulder into the room and sniffed. “My, it even smells expensive.”

Elrena and Lauriam lurched and stumbled into the room with, shouting as they nearly tumbled over each other.

“Hey, _rude_ ,” cried Elrena with a glare. “Why’d you have to shove us?”

“It was getting too buddy-buddy around here,” Isa shrugged.

“You’ll have to excuse Isa,” Lea said, giving a small smile. “Being an asshole is sorta like his way of showing affection. El, I’m sure you’d understand.”

“Fuck off,” Elrena said, picking her jacket off the floor and straightening herself.

Demyx cackled. “It’s funny ‘cause it’s true!”

“Exactly,” said Lea. “We’re all assholes around here.”

Isa elbowed Lea in the side, earning a yelp from the redhead. “Speak for yourself.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, for the the next two weeks we will be practicing here. Forgive me but I’m not into practicing in Demyx’s crusty garage.”

Elrena snickered. “‘Crusty.’”

“Uh, we don’t owe you or anything right?” Demyx said. “I mean… I don’t think I can afford to pay you back on… any of the stuff you’re spending for this show. Er, festival. Performance.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Isa. “I’ve got it covered.”

“The only one who _owes_ Isa anything is Lea,” said Elrena, batting her lashes and clasping her hands together. “And by that I mean --”

“Oh, shut the fuck up, El,” said Lea.

Lauriam faced a confused Demyx. "It's because Lea and Isa are --"

“You know what?” said Isa, ears beet-red. “Continue this conversation and I _will_ demand all of you to pay me back for everything. In cash.”

“I didn't say anything!” said Demyx.

“Alright, alright,” said Lea, waving his hand in dismissal. As everyone settled down, he caught Isa’s gaze and held it for a moment before turning to face the rest of the band. Suppressing a frown, he cleared his throat and clapped his hands together. “Alright, gang. Let’s get to practicing, huh?”

“Wait just a second there, ginger,” said Elrena. “Can we get some explanation first? You two,” she glanced between Lea and Isa, “have been going around and doing everything on your own without even telling us first and I don’t like it. Look, I know you got this… _thing_ ,” she waved her wrist, “going on between you two. Whatever, fine. But at least tell us what’s going on. How the hell are we headlining a whole _festival_? At The Garden Square?”

“I’d like to know as well,” said Lauriam. “We’ve only ever done small-time gigs in the past.”

“Yeah,” said Demyx. “House parties, birthdays, bar mitzvahs. That kinda thing.”

“You guys _do_ know who Isa’s dad is, right?” Lea said flatly.

“Of course we do, jackass,” said Elrena. “I also know that he _quit_ the band because his dad _hated_ us and the fact that his son -- and I quote -- ‘would mingle with such rabble.’ And I know that he _especially_ hated you, _Axel_.”

“All those things are true,” said Isa. “But my father is a businessman. So, Lea did what my father would do to get his way. He pitched a business plan.”

“Excuse me?” said Elrena flatly.

“The Fall Festival,” said Isa. “It never existed in Radiant Garden before. Until now. Thanks to Lea.”

“You’re welcome,” Lea said, pulling up a chair and sitting, leaning his arms over the back of the chair.

“An event this big is going to attract more than Radiant Garden locals,” said Isa. “People from cities over are going to be flocking to come see the show. It's on Halloween weekend, too.”

“Opportunity to make big money, see?” said Lea.

Demyx’s eyes widened. “Wait. Our pay --”

“I was getting to that,” said Isa with a frown. “Unfortunately for us, we’re not getting a big cut of the profits.”

“How small are we talking about?” asked Elrena.

Lea reached for his bag and pulled a bound copy of a contract and held it up to Elrena. She eyed it and tentatively reached for it. Demyx scrambled from his seat and Lauriam craned his neck to get a look as Elrena looked through the contract’s contents.

“The fuck?” said Elrena.

“Wait, this is a  _small_ cut to you?” cried Demyx.

"Not just that," Lea said before Isa could respond to Demyx's retort. "This is gonna give us tons of exposure.” He smirked. “We might even get signed.”

All at once, Elrena’s, Demyx’s, and Lauriam’s eyes widened.

“Lauriam,” Elrena gasped. “We wouldn’t even have to go to college if we make it that big.”

Demyx whistled. “This is…”

Lauriam shook his head. “What’s the catch, Vinter?”

“No catch,” said Isa, looking at his toes.

“You’re a terrible liar,” Elrena spat. “What is it?”

“ _No catch_ ,” Lea repeated, crossing his arms. He glanced Isa's way, meeting Isa's cerulean eyes for a split-second before Isa turned away. “Not for you guys anyway.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyone wanna volunteer to be my beta reader?? my good friend who usually beta reads my fics doesn't really have time anymore so if any of you guys are interested hit me up & we can even be friends if you want :)))
> 
> regarding updates, i'm not sure if i can post consistently like i originally planned cuz things got real crazy in my life all of a sudden and i don't have as much time as i thought i did :U i'll still try to keep it to at least a chapter a week, though i'm not sure what day i'd post it (so if you have suggestions for what day to post, i'd really appreciate it!!)

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a kudos or comment if you enjoyed and want to see more. I see and appreciate every single one <3 Come scream to me about Kingdom Hearts on Twitter/Tumblr/Instagram @haidadraws :D


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